USAID helps people with HIV/AIDS in northern Ghana

The United States has launched a US $25 million aid programme in nothern Ghana that includes help for people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children. The Ghanian Chronicle said on its website that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a development assistance programme last week, aimed at reducing food and livelihood insecurity in 10 vulnerable districts in Ghana by 2009. US Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates was quoted as saying that some 130,000 people living in 250 communities would benefit directly or indirectly from this programme, as "labour lost from HIV/AIDS victims and caregivers places a heavy burden on agricultural productivity and food security". USAID is one of the largest donors in the field of healthcare in Ghana and a major contributor to HIV/AIDS prevention and control, reproductive health and child survival programmes. In 2002 USAID provided nearly $19 million to improve healthcare in Ghana and increase public access to it.